25% Fed Highway Money Not Used For Highways

25% Fed Highway Money Not Used For Highways — As we ponder how to fight global warming (ho ho ho),  become less dependent on foreign oil and get our economy back in gear consider that highway congestion costs us about $76 billion annually in wasted time and fuel, and the remember that our interstates are a bit behind in maintenance, according to Robert W. Poole, Jr., an M.I.T-trained engineer who directs transportation studies at Reason Foundation.

Washington taxes us 18.3 cents per gallon and there are those who would lead you to conclude that that is not enough since the maintenance shortfall is  between $60 and $90 billion per year and the federal Highway Trust Fund tasked to pay for the work is in the red, $8 billion so in 2008.

The Fund set up in 1956 was originally limited to caring for the interstates. It was eventually expanded to all roadways and, in 1982, began being used for urban transit. It now pays for things like sidewalks, bike trails and scenic routes. Basically, 25 percent of the highway money is used for things other than highways.

It may be that sidewalks, bike trails and urban transit are good things but they certainly should not be funded on a national level. While it is appropriate to ask a person in Florida to chip in for a road between New York and Erie (or a person in New York to ante up for one between Melbourne and Jacksonville), it is very wrong to force someone to buy sidewalks for somebody a thousand miles away.

If Americans were told that was what the Highway Trust Fund was going to do they would never have approved trusting their money with it.

25% Fed Highway Money Not Used For Highways

25% Fed Highway Money Not Used For Highways -- As we ponder how to fight global warming (ho ho ho),  become less dependent on foreign oil and get our

One thought on “25% Fed Highway Money Not Used For Highways”


  1. Do we really need curb cuts on every highway in the country? I could see the need in some spots, but perhaps they should only be installed at the request of those who need them.

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